Government & Policy

HIM professionals of the early 1990s might not recognize the profession without paper, but they would understand the basic role -- and probably be proud of the new value it's bringing to American healthcare. That will be on display at the AHIMA convention next week.

With almost two million Americans falling victim to medical identity theft annually, California's Attorney General thinks prevention should be integrated into reform efforts, and she's offering a roadmap.

The 16-day government shutdown that ended Oct. 17 brought the work of the Office of the National Coordinator to a screeching halt, with cancelled meetings of high-level federal advisory committees and workgroups. But with the end of the shutdown, all hands are on deck and ready to work, according to ONC officials.

A number of vendors have had to go through several certification trials to meet the meaningful use requirements. And after a sharp drop in vendors attempting to certify their EHRs or modules earlier this year, the certification bodies are now starting to see more activity.

After a 16-day political game of chicken to the tune of a double-digit billion-dollar loss to the economy, the U.S. government is operational again. Here's what was missed at ONC and how it will impact the office's plans moving forward.

President Obama acknowledges the technical issues with HealthCare.gov, pledging his Administration will resolve them soon and asserting that the distressed ACA web portal is not the only way to shop for affordable health insurance.

Three weeks after the disastrous launch of its health insurance marketplace, the Obama administration has vowed to redouble its efforts to fix its many glitches, promising a 'tech surge' to iron out its problems and improve the customer experience.

Best practices are all well and good, but sometimes it's instructive to take a look at worst practices -- the mistakes everyone should be sure to avoid. When it comes to meaningful use audits, there's simply too much at stake.

Setting aside all the best practices about preparing for meaningful use audits, sometimes it makes sense to delve into the list of what not to do.

With an onus now on vendors to keep hosted data secure, that can make business associate agreements trickier than ever to negotiate as hospitals try to protect patient information and IT companies try to shield themselves from risk. Four providers offer tips from the trenches on getting the language right.